Preface
Why write another book about Lourdes? Few, if any, visitations
from the other side of time and space have been so well documented. Every
Catholic library in the world offers a shelf of Lourdes books. That is part of
the problem – the books are on the shelf. How often are they taken out?
Will this product fare any better? One can but hope that it will have a
useful, even if brief, life. On this subject, many Catholics are indifferent
and even ignorant and the story has to be retold as generation succeeds
generation. It is my hope that a new volume will help to keep this great
candle burning; and not just for Catholics; for the message of Lourdes
radiates for the benefit of all people, of all creeds and none.
Here is a huge communication challenge. Despite incredible advances in
communication technology, ‘getting through’ has never been more
difficult. The fact is, that the very technology is a large part of the problem.
It is the great seducer, sedater, distracter and deceiver. Electronic words
and images hover constantly in the ether, multitudinous, countless, like the
legions of the blessed, and they can be summoned at the press of the
button. Frequently, their outpourings make mock of our sacred values. The
effects are profound; hundreds of millions of people absorb the decadent
message, including a substantial proportion of the Catholic constituency.
Among the faithful a great shakeout is taking place and it would appear
that the Church is facing, yet again, a huge crisis, reflecting the individual
crises raging in hundreds of millions of souls.
Of course, I have thrashed out, to the point of boredom, the great
question: is Lourdes fact or fraud? Having settled that, I am struck by
another great issue: how come more people are not excited? Is not this
exactly what the world needs – proof that there is a Divine dimension to
reality? Does not Lourdes rebut the people, numbering hundreds of
millions, who affirm we can have no certitude in this matter? In this book I
am attempting to clarify these contending points of view. I am also trying
to communicate the wonder, the awe, and the joy of Bernadette’s message
to the lost generations – to the people whose ears and eyes have been
dulled, whose values have been debased by audio-visual illusions. In
particular, I hope to reach those younger people who are prone to ingest
drugs and despairing lyrics and are no strangers to the suicide ‘solution’.
At the end of 20th century – arguably the most shameful century in the
history of our race – we need the testimony and the example of Bernadette
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